Kollywood’s famous AVM Productions has opened its doors to the public with a newly launched museum that may pique the interest of many cinema-lovers. It was inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and actor-politician Kamal Haasan on Sunday, May 7. The production house is known for some of the most popular films in Tamil like Parasakthi (1952), besides having been the studio where hit films across languages were made, including in Telugu and Hindi. AVM Productions was founded in 1945 by AV Meiyappan, from whom it takes its name.
The new museum, which will reportedly be expanded in stages, currently features a collection of vintage cars owned by Meiyappan as also cameras, sound boards, sound recorders and other film-making technology equipment that have now become antiquated. Amongst the car collection is also a MG-T type model manufactured in 1935 that Rajini fans may recognise. The car made an appearance in the song ‘Athiradee’ from Sivaji – The Boss (2007), produced by AVM. A standee near the car announces this piece of trivia, which leaves us wishing for more such tidbits of information, something lacking as of now.
While car lovers would doubtless find at least a few models showcased at the museum exciting, the display style of the legacy tech cinema equipment leaves much to be desired. The museum is at present a single large hall with both the equipment and the cars displayed in different rows. There are name boards telling us what each of the equipment is, but little else. For laypersons, terms like ‘four track dual reproducer’ or ‘optical recorder’ may hold little meaning.
One hopes that the museum works towards adding write-ups that explain what such equipment do, significant breakthroughs they represented at the time of their making, and particular effects accomplished by any of these tools in AVM’s own films. Information like this would go a long way towards making a visit to the museum far more gratifying.
The museum is located a stone’s throw from the main AVM Productions building in Vadapalani and is open to the public on all days of the week except Tuesdays. Entrance tickets are priced at Rs 150 for children and Rs 200 for adults.